Written by former Senate education staffer and journalist Alexander Russo, This Week in Education covers education news, policymakers, and trends with a distinctly political edge. (For archives prior to January 2007, please click here. For posts after November 2007, please click here.) Comments on this blog are now closed.

By Alexander Russo March 22, 2007 at 8:38 AM

Having lived through the last five years of "sky is falling" news about NCLB's imminent demise -- look back and you'll see it's been about to fall apart since almost the beginning -- I'm deeply skeptical about the premise of Gail Russell Chaddock's Christian Science Monitor piece ('No Child Left Behind' losing steam). To be sure, NCLB isn't winning any popularity contents. But it never really did. Moreover, the piece leaves out just how awkward it would for many Republicans to buck their President and explain why they voted for NCLB in the first place. There's lots of jockeying going ...

By Alexander Russo March 22, 2007 at 8:30 AM

You know it's a slow week when nobody can resist peppermint and stinky feet stories: "A middle school in Maryland is using a unique method to help kids do better on their tests" (School Backs Peppermint for Student Alertness NPR). I think they got it from here: "Along with smart teaching, careful preparation, a good night's sleep and a full stomach, peppermint candies are said to improve test performance" (The power of peppermint is put to the test Wash Post). "Thirteen-year-old Katharine Tuck's sneakers smell as bad as they look. Now, the Utah seventh grader is $2,500 richer because ...

By Alexander Russo March 22, 2007 at 2:58 AM

So it looks like Head Start's "National Reporting System" may finally bite the dust, according to this Valerie Strauss piece in the Washington (Preschoolers' Test May Be Suspended). This despite longstanding concerns about the quality of some Head Start programs, the near-impossibility of closing ones that aren't doing a good job, and the spread of standardized assessments used for formative purposes in the early years. To me, this occurrence represents not only an obvious cloud over prospects for national testing for K12 education but over the chances for strengthened test-based accountability in NCLB. Sure, the Head Start lobby is stronger ...

By Margaret Paynich March 21, 2007 at 12:37 PM

For the second week, the Carnival of Education has opened at it's home, The Education Wonks. This Week In Education's submission made it into the first category, EduPolicy. Check it out for tons of great education posts!...

By Alexander Russo March 21, 2007 at 12:17 PM

If this isn't big news, I don't know what is. A couple of kind folks have told me that a recent post from this blog is mentioned in today's Ed Daily (which costs a lot and I can't afford). The mention, "NCLB Rorshach," refers to my cribbed-from-a-friend description of how the USDE's new NCLB logo resembles bloody claw marks, or declining NAEP scores. Old logo on the left, new logo on the right....